Exhibitions | Curtin University, Perth, Australia

John Curtin: fairest and best

Broome 1942

February to April 2012

This temporary exhibition was officially opened by Lieutenant Colonel Herman Verhoef, Defence Attache from the Australian Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 28 February 2012.

The bombing of Broome, Wyndham and Darwin formed the first ‘physical contact of war within Australia’ according to Prime Minister John Curtin. Even more poignant, the majority of casualties included widows and orphans of the Java Sea Battle, evacuees from the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) to Australia on that fateful March morning as Broome was bombed.

View the online version of Broome 1942.

Curtin’s empire

John Curtin at home

‘They’ve cut me down to twelve, Glad’: John Curtin and smoking in World War Two

Menzies, Fadden, Curtin and the Japanese envoy

2009 to 2010

This travelling exhibition showcased the research of JCPML Visiting Scholar Bob Wurth of the unusual, sometimes secretive, personal relationships that developed in 1941-42 between Australia’s three prime ministers of that period – Robert Menzies, Arthur Fadden and John Curtin – and the new Japanese envoy to Australia, Tatsuo Kawai.

View the online version of Menzies, Fadden, Curtin and the Japanese envoy.

The pursuit of knowledge: Curtin, looking ever forward

Backyard frontline: Australia under attack 1942-1943

The art of the possible

A brush with politics: the life and work of John Frith

John Curtin’s legacy: leading Australia from war to peace

September 2002 to December 2004

This exhibition follows Australia’s progress from 1942, the most critical year of the war, when Prime Minister Curtin ‘looked to America’ for help, until 1951 when the ANZUS Treaty was signed. It explores the Curtin Government’s initiatives in areas including the economy, immigration and foreign policy and how these developed in the postwar years to form the foundations of modern Australia.

View the online version of John Curtin’s legacy.

Without classification: Hazel Hawke

Soldier for a crisis: Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey

Shaping the nation: John Curtin and Australia

Beginnings: Images of occupied Japan

October to November 1999

This exhibition from the Douglas MacArthur Memorial Library and Archives, hosted by the JCPML, dramatically portrays the story of Japan’s recovery from total defeat following World War II. The 29 photographs, taken by Nicholas A Orzio between 1948-49, provide a glimpse into the poverty, destruction, apprehension, reforms, tradition, love and dreams of a nation and people who were looking towards new beginnings.

John Curtin: a man of peace, a time of war

April 1998 to August 2000

This exhibition was opened by Michelle Grattan with her lecture The Prime Minister and the press: A study in intimacy on 20 April 1998.

This exhibition was developed by the National Archives of Australia and the JCPML and its opening commemorated the 50th anniverary of John Curtin’s death.

View the online version of John Curtin: A man of peace, A time of war.

Accordion